Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced on Wednesday evening that he would not stand in the upcoming elections and would withdraw from political life.
Bennett will remain as deputy prime minister once Foreign Secretary Yair Lapid replaces him as prime minister, which could happen as early as Thursday when the Knesset finishes passing a dissolution law.
The outgoing prime minister said that his long-time political partner Ayelet Shaked will take Yamina’s leadership in the future.
In an emotional statement, Bennett expressed pride in his government’s achievements and called on the country to unite to preserve its achievements.
“I will not stand as a candidate in the coming elections, but I will remain a staunch soldier of this country that I have served as a combat soldier, officer, minister and as your prime minister. Serving this country is my calling,” said Bennett.
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“I’m finishing more than a year as Prime Minister,” he continued. “Thank God I leave behind a strong, safe and prosperous country. The government I chair has done in a year what other governments have failed to do in a full term.”
Outgoing Prime Minister Naftali Bennett after a press conference at the Israeli Parliament where he announced he will not be standing in the next elections. Ayelet Shaked, the new leader of the Yamina party, is on the right. Stella Weinstein, the outgoing CEO of Yamina, takes center stage on June 29, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)
“We have proved that there is a common good and that it is possible to stand by agreements,” he said. “Only together will we win. If we’re divided, we just won’t be. When we are united, no one can overcome us. Let’s be good to each other. Let’s listen, let’s learn to know each other and be respectful.”
In his speech, Bennett listed the achievements of his administration. It had, he said, restored calm and security to the south; Hundreds of thousands of people put back to work; managed two COVID waves without resorting to lockdown; fought a wave of terror; increase in soldiers’ salaries; “and made it clear to our enemies that those who send terrorists to Tel Aviv will pay the price in their own homes.”
“Soon,” he said cryptically, “there will be other important news in areas related to our future” — a possible indication of progress in Israel’s relations with countries in the region. US President Joe Biden will be in Israel and Saudi Arabia next month and there has been much speculation about a breakthrough in this regard and an expansion of defense alliances against Iran.
Bennett thanked Shaked and his loyal ally, Matan Kahana, who he says was the best cleric in the country’s history.
Kahana had hoped he could take the lead from Yamina, but it’s unclear if he’ll remain in the party under Shaked.
Yamina CEO Stella Weinstein resigned following Bennett’s announcement.
A series of recent opinion polls had shown that Yamina would only take four seats in a new election, putting the party perilously close to falling below the electoral threshold and being expelled from the Knesset. However, a quick poll on Channel 12 on Wednesday night said Yamina would win five seats under Shaked; Working with former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be enough to lift Netanyahu and his bloc to a Knesset majority, the poll found.
Bennett had been hesitating for the past few days on whether or not to run in the upcoming election, and Yamina’s poor prospects in the polls apparently influenced his decision to quit.
Ministers in the outgoing government commended Bennett for his tenure as Prime Minister and wished him well for the future.
Lapid wrote on Twitter: “Naftali my friend, thank you on my behalf and on behalf of the people of Israel.”
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett with Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked at the First Intergovernmental Conference in Israel’s Parliament on June 13, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)
“Naftali Bennett is an Israeli patriot,” Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar tweeted. “He was a good prime minister who filled the position in a statesmanlike manner. We have worked in full cooperation on behalf of Israel and its citizens. I am convinced that he will serve the country again in the future. Naftali, thank you and good luck!”
Health Secretary Nitzan Horovitz, leader of the left-wing Meretz Party, said he had worked closely with Bennett over the past year: “There have been disagreements and political matters, but I have discovered a hardworking and no-nonsense person who really cares about the public. His positions are not my positions and that’s clear, but I respect him a lot. Israel has earned a year of good government, which benefits it greatly.”
Ultra-Orthodox leaders, meanwhile, welcomed Bennett’s retirement from political life and accused him of deceiving the electorate in the last election when he promised he would sign a prime ministerial rotation agreement with the leader by Yesh Atid, Yair Lapid, would not agree.
“It seems that God is the one who rules the world,” quipped MK Moshe Gafni, Chair of United Torah Judaism. “You cannot lie and deceive an entire country. His party is dying a strange death.”
Shas leader MK Aryeh Deri said Bennett deceived the right-wing camp and installed “a government that has done the most damage to Jewish identity and the vulnerable.”
Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the religious Zionism party, the Yamina leader’s bitter rival on the orthodox nationalist right, said Bennett’s decision to retire from political life was “not his, but that of the public, which was disgusted with him and spat him out of their midst.”
Yair Lapid (left) talks to Naftali Bennett (right) during a plenary session in the Knesset, April 22, 2013. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
Bennett entered the political arena in 2013 when his Bayit Yehudi party won 12 seats in that year’s elections, becoming the fourth largest party in the Knesset.
He became economy minister in the 33rd Israeli government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, while Bayit Yehudi’s MKs took on several other ministerial posts.
The party under Bennett also aligned with Netanyahu’s next government and took eight seats in the Knesset. Bennett managed to secure the powerful Attorney General’s portfolio for Shaked while taking on the role of Secretary of Education.
Following the dissolution of the 34th government in December 2018, due to ongoing tensions with the party’s rabbinic leadership, Bennett along with Shaked broke away from Bayit Yehudi and formed the short-lived New Right Party.
The New Right failed to pass the voting threshold in the April 2019 elections, leaving Bennett out of the Knesset and out of power. But in a major political reprieve for him, no new government could be formed and new elections were called for September 2019.
Bennett then stepped back and allowed Shaked to lead the party, which reunited with its former staunch, religiously conservative partners National Union and Tekuma to form Yamina.
The party took seven seats in that election, with Bennett eventually managing to take the post of defense minister in Netanyahu’s interim government.
After the March 2020 election, Benny Gantz’s Blue and White Party and the Likud formed a government that Bennett refused to join.
When that government collapsed after a little over a year, Bennett spent much of the next election campaign fending off accusations from Netanyahu that he was ousting the longtime prime minister by forming a government with Yair Lapid, leader of Yesh Atid.